This movie 'Welcome to Sajjanpur' is a must see movie, by veteran director, Shyam Benegal. You can laugh heartily at some scenes and feel heavy in your heart at some places. Acting by all the characters, is superb, esp. Shreyas Talpade (the hero of 'Iqbal' movie). Ila Arun is there in an unforgettable character!
Benegal IS Benegal! Watch it!
Somehow I liked Obama from the beginning - maybe I liked the sincerity in his voice when he was speaking or because I never liked Bush - from the beginning! I know Bush helped Indians more than any other American President, but no, I don't like him, period! I liked Al Gore, better (courtesy:Oprah Winfrey show!).
I would like to keep these bits of news about Obama for my own future reference - to see how he is seen after 5 years, with this background!
Obama's first book, "Dreams From My Father", (which surely stands as the most evocative lyrical and candid autobiography written by a future President), suggests that throughout his life, he has turned to books as a way of acquiring insights and information from others - as a means of breaking out of the bubble of self-hood and more recently, the bubble of power and fame.
READING LIST THAT SHAPED THE PRESIDENT:
He seems to be very close to his wife and his two daughters. Whether we like it or not, the performance of the American President will affect our country and the world - hopefully for more peace in the future.
If I am still blogging after 5 years, I will do a write-up, with the title "Barack O(h)bama"!
Courtesy: Times of India
Omar Abdullah! I liked the way he spoke in the Lok Sabha:
"I am a Muslim and I am an Indian, and I see no distinction between the two. I don’t know why should I fear the nuclear deal. It is a deal between two countries which, I hope, will become two equals in the future. The enemies of Indian Muslims are not America or deals like these. The enemies are the same as the enemies of all those who are poor — poverty, hunger, lack of development and the absence of a voice….”
- Omar Abdullah, July 22nd, 2008, Lok Sabha. [13]
Now, he is the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir! Good. He was very sincere when he spoke in the Lok Sabha. When manyother leaders were shouting to just get the attention or to stop others from speaking, Omar spoke clearly and sincerely, whole heartedly, meaning what he said.
He is just 38 years old and well educated. Earlier, he was known as Farooq Abdullah's son and Sheik Abdullah's grandson. Now he will be recognised as the CM of Jammu and Kashmir. It is not going to be easy for him to manage Kashmir.
We had been to Amarnath 4 years back. It was very cold over there and drizzling. But everyone helped us throughout the way - the local police and our armymen. On the way back, we visited Kashmir also. When we were at the Jammu railway station, waiting for the train, an announcement came saying that all the trains to Delhi were cancelled. Then, we heard some shootouts, outside the station. All of us were scared. But we came out after sometime and caught a taxi. The driver was a local muslim. The highway was pitch dark. But he drove without headlights, for fear of terrorists' attack. We reached Delhi without any problem, thanks to him.
Hope Omar Abdullah will be safe from terrorists and bring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir and protect its people.
Best of luck to him!
I saw this movie, 'Slumdog Millionaire', a couple of weeks back and was talking about it to everyone, asking them to watch it. Now it is getting so famous and I thought I should express my feelings in writing - say..for my own record! I have got this habit of forgetting the stories of the movies, I watch, very fast. If someone asks about it, a month or so later, I go blank. But this movie is going to stay in my memory, like 'A Few Good Men', 'Rain Man', 'Finding Forrester', etc., at least, the first 3/4th part of the movie!
The movie's main story is about an 18 year old boy - a muslim and an orphan, who grew up in the Mumbai slum and wins Two Crore rupees in the 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' show. After he answers correctly for all the questions, but one, which will get him the prize money, the anchor of the show, Anil Kapoor, who is in place of our Amitabh Bachchan, gets uneasy about this boy and thinks, he is stealing his show without proper credentials. He arranges with the police to check the boy - in the police way - if he is a cheat or has got microchips (!) in his body! Irfan Khan who is the police officer, does his job thoroughly. The boy tells him how he knew the answers for the questions. They show his life in flashback. Every stage of his life, from childhood, taught him the answers to the questions, he says.
I was engrossed thoroughly in the story, with a heavy heart. The boy, Dev Patel has acted very well. His expressions are very good. The younger Patel also has acted very well. Sanchita Chouwdary, who acts as his mother, looks beautiful, though in a small role. The life of the people in the Dharavi slum, was never shown so truthfully, in anyother earlier film. It is difficult for me to write about them in detail, though I know these things happen in reality. The director of the movie, Danny Boyle makes us feel ashamed of ourselves for knowingly letting the goondas and politicians (feel both are alike!) rule the underprivileged people and churn out more characters like themselves for the future to ruin our country.
One thing, I was unable to digest is, the actors speak flauless English. They show the mother of the hero, makes sure, her two sons go to the local school, when they were small. They were in uniform also. Later on, the hero works for sometime, in a call centre in place of his friend. Is that enough for the accentless English?
The movie is directed so well, that we need a brave heart to watch. But suddenly, the director must have thought that an Indian story should have a PROPER CLIMAX and added some songs in the end. The heroine joins and hero and dances in the railway platform! The song which we hear, when the credits are rolling, is good. A.R. Rahman is nominated for the 'Golden Globe' award for the music for this film. This film is nominated for 3 more categories of this award.
Though the impact of the story dies after the dance scene, the movie will definitely remain in our minds, for a long time. A well made bollywoody film, by an English Director!
I read good reviews about this movie and wanted to see how it is. Huh, it took a long time to finish! I felt as if I saw two movies at a stretch!
Priyanka Chopra decides to become a model in the fashion w0rld and struggles to reach the top and she does reach the top model post. She was prepared to do anything for reaching it. Then she tumbles down...and down.... Her father (Raj Babbar), who was against his daughter becoming a model in the beginning, now, helps her and encourages her to go back and fulfil her dream. She goes back and starts again from scratch.
We know that in the glamour world, whether fashion or movies, it is not easy to be successful. But Madhur Bhandarkar, the director of the movie, has shown the lives of the models, the fashion designers etc. so powerfully, that we get a bit scared. Priyanka has done her job very well. I liked Kangana's acting very much. Her facial expressions are very good. She seems to me to be a better actress than Priyanka! I couldn't believe Harsh Chaya could act so well. Too good. His lisp, the body movements...
We can watch it once. Though, I remembered the movies 'Devil Wears Prada' 'Miss Congeniality' etc. sometimes, while watching this movie.
